Three unique commencements attended in 2025, in various locations in the world, are listed in order, as follows:
Dr. Laura Anne Hilger
January 15th, 2025
University of Bath, United Kingdom
Doctorate in Social Policy
Research and Methods
Thesis: Mind the Gap: Social
Policymaking in the UK in Theory and Practice
Ms. Maria Fernanda Rojas Ramirez
May 15th,
2025
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de
Chile, Santiago
Magister en Trabajo Social (Master
of Social Work – With High Distinction)
Thesis: Experience of Being Affected by a Peer's Suicide: Social Networks, Social Support and Community Resilience in University Students
Dr. Ryan Peter Hilger
December 19th, 2025
Colorado State University, Fort
Collins
Doctorate in Engineering Systems
Management
Thesis: An Algorithmic Semantic
Analysis of Cyber Security and Resilience Guidance Against Interdisciplinary
Understanding of Resilience Concepts Across Time and Scale
Now that I have advertised the nature of this blog post, some proud elaboration is necessary. The details:
January 15, 2025: Laura Hilger
I departed from my Study Abroad trip with my students from
Costa Rica a few days early to catch a long flight to London with little down
time, and took the train with my wife Becky and our daughter to Bath a few
hours west of London. A charming, medieval town south of the Cotswolds, Becky and I had been here before, as the center of the city, just outside the Abbey, is the official termination of the Cotswold Way national trail. It is home to ancient Roman-era natural baths, surrounded by hills and nestled along the River Avon.
The Abbey has been a site of worship
since 675 AD and, over the centuries of its transformation, has been elevated to cathedral
status. Bath Abby was closed under Henry VIII in 1539 and left to decay. It was given to the City of Bath as a parish church, and in 1573, Queen Elizabeth I granted permission for the city to raise money to restore the abbey, which was completed in 1620. Largely
intact today with several additions and remodels over the intervening period,
the structure is impressive.
And here we were, standing outside the Abbey, awaiting entry
to witness Laura’s commencement:
Magnificent doors to pass through
Indeed, this was a mesmerizing experience for me. I have been a platform guest at the
University of Minnesota commencement, which we host every Spring, where there always
seems to be a measure of pomp and circumstance to a commencement event. But, while similar in format, it was wholly
different in majestic effect to sit several rows from the front of the
makeshift stage, centered in the Abbey, and well positioned to see the parade
of graduates. With the natural redundancy
of the parade, one could easily be distracted by the sheer beauty and grace of
the Abbey, to wonder what all has happened herein, and upon whose tombs we were
sitting.
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| The Abbey is splendid in its Gothic form |
But then the announcer called out Laura Anne Hilger, and we witnessed her march, receive her doctoral hood, and be officiated by none other than Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Chancellor of the University. As one of the last students to walk, and with a rather lengthy name on her degree, Prince Edward was caught having to ask the announcer to restate the degree so he could properly repeat it in front of Laura – a moment of humor for all. And moments later, it was all over, having moved outside onto the square.
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| Prince Edward (R) conferring her degree |
We wandered the streets and byways with Laura up to campus, in all her regalia, to meet with her advisers. It had a strange mix of Hogwarts and hiking, crossing fields, walking narrow alleys, and arriving at the more modern university campus high up on the surrounding hillside, overlooking the abbey.
In a way, the walk was a metaphor for her journey of learning, culminating at a high pinnacle with a view of the path travelled. The end of an academic journey, but not the end of learning.
May 15, 2025: Fernanda Rojas
Fernanda is my (informal) goddaughter from Costa Rica, whom I have known since 2017 when she first joined our Study Abroad team in San Ramon, serving as a helper, interpreter, and guide for all the students. (See
posts Making a Difference
and especially about her story in Semicolon;)
Nearly four years ago, after receiving
her social work license, she was employed by an organization that assists LGBTIQ
immigrants. She was laid off quite
suddenly and without much reason, except that it was likely due to budget
cuts. Interested in education, she began researching higher learning options and applied for a scholarship at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, and waited.
Then, she began working at a boy’s home that required
a social worker by their license, but in a role the (male) managers deemed unnecessary
except as a dormitory mom. We had many
phone calls at that time, sharing the stress of the situation, living remotely alone within a toxic work environment, yet personally successful in
establishing meaningful relationships with the adolescent boys. What we expected could happen, did - she was
released. A call to share the news is
one I shall not forget, for we decided now was the best time to take the leap
to graduate school and continue to pursue her research and study of social work
focused on suicide. And I would support
her by closing the financial gap not covered by the scholarship, and including "rice and beans."
Arriving in Santiago, I immediately embarked on a journey
with my nephew Colin to Easter Island, a trip of a lifetime opportune in its
timing, coincident with Fernanda’s graduation (and a whole other story - see Postscript below). Returning after a few days, Fernanda and I toured the city, a place I
had not visited since Colin was married many years ago. We walked.
We talked, mostly about the future, the next steps, her pursuit of her
doctorate, and her relationship with Aldo, her sweetheart.
You could call it fatherly stuff.
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| This is NOT Aldo! Touring in Valparaiso |
Timed to arrive on campus coincident to and meet Fernanda, I did not immediately recognize her in the crowd, having been "dolled up" a bit and without glasses for the ceremony (for which she teased me!). I was dispatched to the entrance of the auditorium a bit early, found a seat along the side aisle about a third of the way from the front, not knowing if this was the best perch. I was soon discovered by Fernanda’s landlord, who sat next to me. Again, like our commencements, the platform guests arrive, followed by all the students, graduate and undergraduate, from the school of social work. So naturally, I was watching for Fernanda, and close to the end of the line we spotted each other as she descended the aisle and took her seat, but a few away from mine in the row opposite, across the aisle. Such good fortune as we could share happy glances.
I could not understand the speeches, but perhaps an occasional word here or there, but I had a good sense of this pomp and circumstance. I was well positioned to see Fernanda as she lined up to file onto the stage, the second-to-last student to cross.
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| First walk across the stage: receiving her diploma |
I was filming her procession and, like all the other students, waiting with the camera rolling for her to come back up my aisle to her seat. But she did not come! The last students came by, and then nothing. Peering to the front, she was hustled to a seat in the front row, where I lost a clear view of her.
As I pondered the situation, the leader of the school
continued to speak, which I did not
understand, but I decided this must be a moment and a connection to the mystery. With her landlord giving me
some translation but also not knowing what was coming, she was soon called up to the stage to hearty applause, having been awarded the top thesis in her
class!
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| Second walk across the stage: Top Thesis Award plus flowers! |
I was so proud! Beaming, I was overcome by my own emotion and pride, knowing how much this education, all education, has meant to her, and I am proud to have helped her along the way.
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| At the reception afterward - both pride and wine! |
And now, she chases her PhD at the University of Chile in Santiago while serving as a keynote or panelist at professional conferences, being asked to author a book chapter, conducting many workshops (including for my study abroad students), and participating in other professional and research-based engagements typically afforded to those with many more years of experience. Specializing in training about suicide awareness, I know that she will save many people and must be supported.
December 19th, 2025: Ryan Hilger
Ryan tends to be a person of few words but abundant thoughts and a clear path forward. A career officer serving as a Commander in the Navy, he is an Engineering Duty Officer and lives with his family in the Washington, DC area. His wife, Heather, is working toward her Master's Degree in counseling, while minding our two grandchildren, Charlotte (almost 13) and Henry (10). Upon a recent visit to their home for Thanksgiving, it became clear to me that this family is focused on education. Still, I wonder how they manage multiple degree pursuits, the challenges of homeschooling both children with their, shall we say, constantly changing personalities!
And so it was that we met at Denver International Airport a few
weeks ago, a matter of minutes apart on separate flights, and with a rented car, headed north toward Fort Collins. First, we detoured
to take an 11-mile route through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal
National Wildlife Refuge. This site
once bustled with munitions and chemical production during World War II, constructed
after Pearl Harbor, and finally closed in 1992. Heavily contaminated, the site
has been cleaned up and restored to a wildlife refuge under the guidance of the
US Fish and Wildlife Service since 2010. A batch of new residents was transferred to the site in 2007 – a herd of wild buffalo- and has proliferated into quite a large herd.
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| No petting these creatures |
This diversion is but one of four examples of education central to this family experienced on this trip – an interactive approach to learning with many direct field experiences. The second was a visit to Wings Over the Rockies, an air and space museum housed in a cavernous old airplane hangar on the former Lowry Air Force base, a technical services training base that was once the first site of the Air Force Academy.
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| The scale of the clear-span hangar was impressive |
The third was a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park, at least the roads that were open. Getting a fill of “whiteness” before Christmas, and with this as our family Christmas gathering a few days early, the majesty of the emerging mountains as one drives higher and higher intrigued the kids, constantly on the lookout for the emerging views. Of course, stopping at the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, considered one of the most haunted places in the country and where the horror movie “The Shining” took place, was a must-see for Henry. I suppose this is still educational!
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| A magnificent valley view toward Deer Mountain. |
The fourth was a visit to the Denver Zoo, always a favorite of the kids to see animals. Learning, it seems, takes all forms of stimulation. Long interested in aviation and animals, the kids were especially drawn to seeing buffalo, prairie dogs, coyotes, mountains, as well as spacecraft, airplanes, and, perhaps, a gift shop!
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| An engaging academic experience! |
It was time, however, to honor Ryan’s accomplishment. Within the tight confines of Moby Arena, the basketball pavilion, we had no choice but to sit in the cramped stands for a distant view of the event. Much more perfunctory, the commencement celebration included only graduate students from across campus programs. And, as is typical, the march across the platform was to receive the diploma cover, shake a few hands, and likely get a photo taken. Absent a keynote speaker, the event moved efficiently, processing several hundred students; Ryan one of the early ones. He was “hooded” by his thesis adviser on the platform, a common practice for PhD students.
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| Ryan's hooding - as seen from the distant seats |
And that was it! In all three cases, of course, celebrations were had, as they should be. Commencement following the completion of any degree is worth honoring. Education itself is worth honoring – indeed, sometimes we do not do enough to honor teachers and their role in making this happen for students. Or, in Ryan and Heather’s case, honoring them for teaching our grandkids so well, with genuine interactive engagements, and showing the kids where education can take them.
L to R: Henry (10), Heather, Ryan and Charlotte (nearly 13)
Proud? Oh yes!
Congratulations to all three of you!
POSTSCRIPT - Easter Island
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| Final approach to the island with a volcanic crater Orongo in foreground |
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| Afternoon ride along the west coast near Ahu Te Peu. |
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| Sunset with the moai at Mirador Hanga Kioe |
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| Went fishing. Caught nothing but great views of the the Islote Motu Kao Kao and Moto nui on the south tip. |
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| Ahh, yes! Summiting Cero Terevaka with great views |
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| The view from Cero Teravaka before a wild descent to Hanga Roa |
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| The most famous site on the island: the quarry where moai were carved, then moved, at Moai Tukuturi |
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